I really don't think I can explain the effect of the death of Michael Jackson on me in 140 lame Twitter words or less. Nor did I want to post 20 different posts to say this. So I need to write more.
I have not cried, don't think I will, it's not like that for me. The feeling of loss, the sense of a changing of time does hit me. It is indeed the end of an era, the turning of a page in the music world. When I was 11 years old, on August 16, 1977, grown women cried and everyone said The King was dead. I did not understand what the big deal was about this guy named Elvis Presley dying. I was already into Earth Wind, and Fire, The Bee Gees, The Eagles, and The Jackson 5. Who was this Elvis guy? But it was huge. And now I understand the impact, nearly 32 years later, another King is Dead.
The King of Pop. The Jackson 5, The Jacksons and Michael Jackson were soundtracks to my life. The Jackson 5 to my childhood. The Jackson's “Destiny” and Michael Jackson's “Off the Wall” album were ones I played endlessly when I was 12, 13 years old. These were my songs. This was my music. Music then, as it is now, was a huge part of my life.
Then, “Thriller” came out. I was in high school, already getting into new wave and kind of not as interested in Michael Jackson, especially with the first single, “The Girl Is Mine” with Paul McCartney. Then came “Billie Jean” and “Beat It”, and I could not deny the infectiousness of these songs. Michael had it, he was indeed the King of Pop. Then came “Bad” and the touching “Man in the Mirror”, asking us to “make that change” and this was during the scary days of Ronald Reagan's Presidency. In 1991, I fell in love and had my first relationship. Then “Remember The Time” came out and once again, Michael was a part of the soundtrack of my life. I remembered the time I fell in love, and still do. To this day, “Remember The Time” is my all time favorite Michael Jackson song.
Over time, part of me thought Michael might take his life, but part of me was counting on that comeback. I just could not rule his reign as king as over as yet. No one had reclaimed his thrown. The crown was still his to continue earning. I still believed a comeback was possible, and possibly inevitable if tragedy did not strike first.
Sadly, tragedy hit first.
So, the death of Michael Jackson is like a part of my life is gone forever. Michael Jackson will no longer be a part of the soundtrack of my life. It symbolizes the end of something I can't quite place my finger on, but it is indeed something profoundly major in a background yet important kind of way.
Rest In Peace, Michael Jackson.